


The Legacy of the Order

by Drakenn



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Clone Wars, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Jedi Training (Star Wars), Original Character(s), Politics, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:46:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21978310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drakenn/pseuds/Drakenn
Summary: A single decision made by two Masters of the Jedi Order has consequences far greater than they thought were possible. A Zabraki boy is taken from Dathomir and to the Temple where he trains to become a Jedi during the rise of tensions before the start of the Clone Wars as the shadow of Siths spreads itself over the galaxy. This is his story and story of those that followed him through his journey as he and the Jedi Order face the perils and the trials of the Clone Wars that are about to engulf the galaxy...
Kudos: 1





	The Legacy of the Order

**Author's Note:**

> I recently read too much Star Wars books and watched too many TV shows and movies and this is the effect of my Muse being hyperactive over Star Wars and ignoring everything else.

The Temple of the Jedi Order on Coruscant was for many an impossible to assault fortress, a belief Loukas thought was valid until few hours ago. He squinted his eyes as he used the Force to hurl himself over a chasm that appeared in front of him. Somehow a thief managed to get into the Holocron Vault and barely was stopped from running away with one of those precious artefacts.

  
Letting out an angry growl Loukas paused at one of the intersections and looked around. The Temple was a mess as whoever was behind this plot decided to throw several hundred droids at them as a distraction. While it didn’t stop the Jedi as the droids didn’t stand much of a chance against the Jedi gathered in the Temple, the attack still slowed down the first response by precious seconds. Just enough to breach the protections of the Vault and get inside.

  
“Master,” Loukas murmured into his comm, his voice rough and filled with anger. “What am I supposed to do? He’s nowhere close to me. I thought I had him, but it turned out to be just a group of droids.”

“Calm down.” Loukas winced and growled when he heard the voice of his Master. His instincts were screaming at him to hunt and don’t stop, not to calm down and take his time to think. “You are vulnerable to the Dark Side, Loukas. Your people need to constantly fight it, don’t make it harder on yourself by giving in and following the instincts that lead to it. Slow down and clear your mind.”

  
“But, Master...”

  
“Do it, Loukas,” Windu said in a way that didn’t leave any room for interpretation. Not that Loukas would try to question his Master, he wasn’t that suicidal and he knew that disobeying his Master could end badly. “Do it and once you’re calm return to my room.”

  
Loukas let out a guttural growl as he extinguished his yellow lightsaber and attached it back to his belt. He hated Windu’s decision, he wanted to hunt and let the thrill of chase push him towards the goal. He was a Zabrak, he was a bloody predator for which chasing their prey was a natural behaviour, one that was at the very core of their being. Not following it and not giving in felt strange to him, like if he was doing something very against himself and his whole being.  
He stood there for several long moments, his whole, muscular body trembling in barely contained emotions as he tried to re-establish his control over the raging inferno of emotions he felt. He was angry that someone managed to get into the Temple, that somehow, they managed to slip past all the defences and security features there were in the complex to prevent such a thing. Then there was his anger and frustration at his Master who told him not to do something he really wanted, heck, he felt like he needed to chase that bounty hunter that was behind the attack.

  
He let out a frustrated huff and smashed his fist into a column next to him, the pain caused by his fist impacting the hard and unforgiving stone had some strangely soothing and calming down effect. Breathing in deeply Loukas closed his golden eyes and then slowly exhaled.

  
As much as he was angry at his Master, he knew he shouldn’t have gotten so excited by the chase after the bounty hunter and he knew that he should have been more restrained... But telling his base instincts to lay low and wait for their time was impossible for him with the plethora of other emotions. Especially when the bounty hunter made him feel threatened in an area where he could usually unwind and forget about the worries of the outside world.  
“Kriff,” he murmured softly. “It’s so hard to control myself.”

  
“Even the greatest Master has a moment of weakness.” Loukas jumped up at those words. He didn’t hear Master Yoda approaching him. “Hrm, hrm, yes, yes, even you, especially you would have a hard time not falling to your weakness now.”  
“Master Yoda,” Loukas said and bowed his head in a sign of respect to the ancient Master. “I didn’t hear you coming.”  
“Assuming I wanted to be heard. You assumed that, have you not?”

  
Yoda was quirky, yet wise and Loukas mulled over those words in silence. An outsider, unaware of the hierarchy within the Order would have scoffed at a seven tall, heavily muscles and threatening looking individual in their prime following the commands of someone that was merely two feet tall and looked as if they could drop dead at any second. Yet Loukas knew and was painfully aware from mock duels that he had little, if any chance of winning against Yoda, maybe one day he would be able to fight the diminutive Master to a standstill, but he doubted that it would be soon, if ever.

  
“Master...” Loukas started and then fell silent, lacking words.

  
“Yes, the future I see,” Yoda said and Loukas could almost feel the bubbling amusement from the old master. “A great Knight and Master one day you shall become. However, the weaknesses and flaws of characters you shall conquer first.”  
“Thank you, Master Yoda, for your kind words,” Loukas murmured.

  
“No kindness, just truth. Now go and join your Master. He is uncompromising and demanding, but if you place your trust in him, he will help you.”

  
o-0-o

Gwyn watched her Master talk with Loukas from a safe distance and once the hulking Zabrak stalked away she slipped out of the shadows. She liked him and knew that he was kind and affectionate towards his friends, but at the same time his red skin and a pattern of black tribal tattoos scared her. “Master,” she murmured in respect. “The primary systems have been restored.”

  
“You did good,” Yoda said and then looked towards departing Loukas. “You are in love with him, are you not?”

  
Biting her lip Gwyn looked away from her master, her emerald eyes focused on one of the droids that didn’t avoid a lightsaber. For several long moments she watched the droid, thinking how to answer the question without giving away what did she truly think or believed. Even if Yoda was old and understanding, he still was a Jedi and there were things he would approve of not.

  
“Love and attachments are banned by the Jedi Code,” she murmured quietly, trying to make her voice sound as neutral and emotionless as she could. It was a ruse, a bad one at that…, but it was better than admitting to her true feelings and conflicted emotions. “Falling in love with someone is not a thing I can do if I want to become a Knight.”

  
“Is it?”

  
“There is no passion, there is serenity,” Gwyn recited from memory, each of those words stung her, yet at the same time it was strangely soothing. She wanted to live by the Code, but at the same time, she wanted to be with her lover, the Code be damned.

“Love is passionate and it’s also an external attachment, one I shouldn’t have.” Yoda chuckled at this, his voice warm and making her arch one of her elegant eyebrows. “Master?”

  
“Meditate on this, you shall,” Yoda said and paused for a moment, letting those words sink in. “Know this, the Code was not always the same as it is now and there are exceptions that allow you to have a lover and remain in the Order. As rare as they are, they can happen if the Council thinks they should happen.”

  
Gwyn relaxed a bit and nodded to the aged Master. “Thank you, Master.”

  
A bark of amused laughter escaped Yoda’s mouth and made her only even more confused. “I did nothing, all I did was point you in the direction of truth. There is no bad choice here, isn’t there?”

  
“No, Master.”

  
“There is,” Yoda said, his cane slightly tapping her knee. “If you choose something against what you are. Choose, not try. But choose. Dark or light, your beliefs or one’s forced onto you. But choose.”

  
Wincing Gwyn sighed, she knew that Yoda meant good and his words had some wisdom. However, understanding them and learning the wisdom he wanted to pass on was another story, one that took much more time and effort.  
Yoda looked at her and then nodded to himself before walking towards the Archives. He motioned for her to follow and Gwyn only nodded, trailing after the aged Master.

  
o-0-o

Loukas look a deep, slow breath as he stopped in front of the door to the rooms he shared with his Master. He needed to calm down and calm down fast at that. Windu was patient, but it was not the first time when he almost lost his temper and he doubted the dark-skinned Jedi Master would be very pleased with him. Even if his Master was willing to ignore those outbursts of anger, several of the Masters that knew of the circumstances of him being brought to the Temple were less understanding.

  
Not that he was pleased very often, Loukas snorted and with a move of his hand the door in front of him opened. The Force was a truly amazing gift to possess and an even bigger responsibility for ones capable of wielding it, Loukas mused as he stepped into the room and almost immediately noticed his master waiting for him.

  
Mace Windu sat cross-legged on a meditation pad, his face pulled in a concentrated frown, his eyes closed, yet Loukas was very, very well aware that his Master was aware of his presence in the room. “Sit down.”  
Obeying Loukas sat down opposing his Master and watched him for a long while, trying to see what Windu would say or do. He dreaded that talk, especially after the way he was called back from chasing the bounty hunter. The fact that his Master probably could read all of his emotions didn’t help Loukas feel less on edge, in fact, it made him even more antsy and frustrated.

  
“Your temper is a thing you need to work on,” Windu commented letting out a heavy sigh and Loukas winced internally, those words were harsher than what he was expecting, but less harsh than what he could get. “I spoke with Master Yoda and he agreed with me on this, once the current crisis is dealt with, you will assist him in training younglings and younger padawans in the art of using the lightsaber. You’re a good duellist, one that’s gifted with a rare talent and training the younglings and the padawans will help you grow it.”

  
“I understand, Master,” Loukas said, biting his own tongue, so hard that he almost felt the metallic taste of blood to prevent himself from saying more. He hated the idea, but at the same time, Master Yoda meant that he would be able to learn something from the aged Master and see Gwyn more often.

  
“You are ready for the Trials.” Loukas’ head jerked up in surprise and his eyes widened a bit. “However, your recent issues with temper and losing control over yourself when fighting make me doubt if I should bring it up to the attention of the Council. If Master Yoda thinks you perform well and teach the younglings something useful, I will discuss the possibility of you becoming a Knight. Until then you need to be patient and work on your temper.”

  
“I understand, Master,” Loukas said quietly. “I know that I should have listened to your teaching and don’t hurl myself after that bounty hunter… But who I am and the fact that my people are predators makes it very hard to resist the urge to give in and just chase whatever prey presents itself.”

  
Windu finally opened his eyes and allowed himself a smile. “I’m more than aware of how tempting such urges and hungers are. How hard it can be to resist the silken words of the Dark Side. It’s tempting and enticing, hiding its ugliness behind a veil of niceties and good offers. A chance to recover from terminal illness or a chance to achieve whatever goal you want? That’s how the Dark Side often shows itself. It tempts and lies and before you notice it, you’re in its grasp.”

  
Frowning Loukas let out a tired sigh. The last thing he wanted now was a lecture on what the Dark Side was, he wanted to be active and to do things, not just sit in one place and meditate like many of the older and experienced Jedi could. He was a person that wanted to act and do something.

  
What?

  
He didn’t bloody care. He just wanted to act. He didn’t particularly care what he needed to do or how, but it was easier and better for him than just sit here on his ass and do nothing. He let out a short, guttural growl and tensed, all of his muscles flexing in anger and frustration.

  
“You will have the time to act, not soon and certainly not now, but you will have it,” Windu said calmly. “The bounty hunter needs to be caught and held accountable for his crime. Also, the way he got…”

  
“He knew the security measures deployed around the Temple,” Loukas said and grimaced, the tribal tattoos on his body shifting into a menacing pattern. “I thought that this knowledge was restricted to the Council and several other Jedi.”

  
“That’s usually the case. Previous members of the Council also know it…” Mace said and trailed off. “Yes, I suppose that could make sense. I will need to meditate on it with Master Yoda and ask him what he thinks on it, but perhaps it is the plot orchestrated by his old apprentice.”

  
Loukas closed his eyes as he tried to dig through the list of the apprentices of the venerable Grand Master of the Order, Yoda lived for so long that the number of Jedi he trained went into the hundreds, if not thousands. Finding one that was his apprentice, was relatively young, but also old enough to sit on the Council was hard. There were names that came to Loukas mind, however they were either already dead or never got to sit on the Council dying before being offered a seat.

  
“And what should I do, Master, while you meditate on this?”

  
“Rest and go over what you remember of the attacker,” Windu said and allowed himself a tiny smile, one that Loukas knew meant a lot more than it showed. “It was you who managed to get the closest to him or she or whatever it was that tried to steal those Holocrons and I want you to try to note down everything of importance on them.”

  
o-0-o

Frowning Gwyn looked at the console in front of her, then her gaze moved to a yellow and silver astromech that chirped happily. “What do you think, R3?” The droid let out a complex sequence of whistles, chirps and other noises she couldn’t quite describe. “Our guests knew how to hurt us, Master.”

  
As she said those words she turned and looked at the diminutive form of Master Yoda. “You have found something, haven’t you?”

  
Gwyn bit her lip, but then she slowly nodded. “More like I didn’t found one thing I hoped to find. The systems of the Temple log every connection to the systems, but when the attack happened there was exactly no connection from something even remotely suspicious. Just the connections from the institutions of the Republic and the Senate.”

  
“You think that the bounty hunter had access to their terminals?”

  
“He could have,” Gwyn said and paused as she closed her eyes and took a very deep and a very slow breath. The words she just said were a very, very serious accusation, one nobody would wish to see hit the public. The unity of the Order and the Republic was a thing that kept the Separatist movement within reasonable limits…

  
Yes, she didn’t really want to follow this line of thought. Such a crack would mean a war, she wasn’t stupid and she knew that sooner, rather than later there would be a war. However, her knowing the fact that there would be a war didn’t change the fact she hated the idea with her whole being. She wasn’t a warrior, she of course knew how to use her sword, but first and foremost she was a diplomat that sought a peaceful solution to the problem they came across.

  
“He could have also stolen one or forced someone to give him access… He could have also placed the software dormant weeks before and now it became active.” Gwyn took a deep breath and looked at her Master. “However, if he was sensible and could plan well, he wouldn’t place it well ahead as our security could catch it and remove long before it was useful…”

  
“A worrying development it is,” Yoda said after a moment. “To have the Republic attack our systems.”

  
“And one that would very well fit the goals of some of the groups in the galaxy,” Gwyn said with a bitter smile. “The Trade Federation, the Banking Clan and the Separatists, all would benefit from us turning on the Republic and not fulfilling our duties. Compared to other ideas they could have, this one is a good one.”

  
“Yes,” Yoda said and fell silent for several long moments. “Benefit the Separatists it would.”

  
Gwyn bit her lip as she looked at the logs and then glanced at R3, the astromech had considerable computing power and it was optimized for certain tasks. It could have been wrong, but she doubted it, especially since she reached the same conclusion on her own. “I don’t like this, Master, but I don’t see any other option.”

  
Nodding Yoda remained silent and she didn’t interrupt it. There were things she didn’t want to do, angering the Grandmaster of the Order or even interrupting him was not a thing any Jedi wanted to do. “With Chancellor Palpatine I shall speak about the attack and ask for assistance in the investigation.”

  
“He is a… difficult man,” Gwyn said quietly. “I am aware that he is the Chancellor for a reason, but I can’t trust him… There is something in him that unsettles me. I can’t describe it well…”

  
“The Force is whispering to you,” Yoda said and smiled. “It has its own wisdom and knowledge; one it can share with us. Trust in it and it shall guide you through the dangers in your life.”

  
o-0-o

  
Sitting down on one of the countless rocks that filled the Room of Thousand Fountains Loukas closed his eyes and slipped into meditative state. The bounty hunter he observed was unnerving, at best, and scary at worst.  
He let out a troubled sigh as he pushed his worries into the Force that filled the space around him.

  
There was more to the events than his Master was willing to admit and it troubled Loukas. He was of course aware of the fact that as the Master of the Order Windu had every right to withhold information he thought should remain confidential. Even if it was Windu’s right, it didn’t sit well with Loukas and he felt irked by this.

  
No, irked was not a good word. He felt more uncomfortable and unsure of the path he should take.

  
Exhaling slowly, he focused on the images of the bounty hunter that were still vivid in his mind. He was a Duros, male or female he couldn’t be sure of, but he seemed to move like a male. There was also something to him that put Loukas on guard whenever he thought about him, as if some sticky, slimy parasite attached himself to the bounty hunter and tried to shield him.

  
No.

  
It didn’t try to shield him, it more tried to keep the attention of those sensitive to the Force on something else. A thing that now explained how did the bounty hunter so easily slid through the security forces of the Temple and was noticed only when he was inside, too close, far too close to the Holocron Vault for anybody’s comfort. However that was the more pleasant part of this truth, what truly was worrying was that there was someone powerful and malicious meddling with the Force and its behavior.

  
Master, Loukas thought over the bond he shared as a padawan with his master. Can you meet me in the Room of Thousand Fountains in an hour?

  
Drifting away from the bond and deeper into his meditation Loukas focused himself on the bounty hunter and everything he could remember about the man. Coruscant was a planet-sized city so just a race would give them nothing, not even sex of the culprit would help much. It would reduce the gigantic haystack by about half, or less, but that was still billions or trillions of beings of all races, ages and sexes.

  
What he needed was something standing out and unique. Just like the cybernetics the bounty hunter had attached to his face, perhaps because his respiratory system has been damaged or perhaps because he felt like getting them. Loukas didn’t particularly care about the why, what he cared about was that he now had something very distinct and very unique. Something he could get checked in one of the databases the Order had access to.

  
It was not as much as he wished for and not as much as his Master expected, but it was also enough to start digging through the databases with a clear idea of whom they were looking for.

  
Getting up Loukas corrected his robes and hopped onto the floor of the chamber that could very well be a called a plaza and strode in the direction where he could find Gwyn. She had the skills he needed right now. Skills that would let them run some searches through the databases the Order shouldn’t have access to and those it had access to.

  
“I wondered when you would come asking for my help,” Gwyn said with a smile and at the same time her R3 astromech chirped happily. “You know that the security systems probably caught him in one or more places as he was making his way to the Vault.”  
Loukas pursed his lips thoughtfully as he looked at the screen in front of them. “Why did it then not alert us to his presence?”

  
“That’s an excellent question,” Gwyn said as she glanced at her astromech that moved forward and attached himself to the console. “If I have to guess. The system sent the message, but the malicious code that was running rampart at the same time prevented it from activating the alarms.” Loukas could tell she was deep in thought so he didn’t interrupt her. “You see, the maintenance corridors are old and some of them are forgotten and home to various beasts. Most of the time it is up to the systems here to make the decision if the movement is caused by something that can be ignored or a threat.”

  
“It’s potentially a danger to the Temple. I don’t think someone would be insane enough to try it again, but…”

  
“Paranoia is a good thing when it comes to security…. and tech,” Gwyn said, adding the second after a brief pause. She smiled and patted her astromech. “What did you find, R3?”

  
The yellow and silver droid let out a string of happy chirps and whistles, one that for Loukas was impossible to understand. Yet somehow Gwyn did it easily, each time he saw her work with one of the Temple’s astromechs or computer systems he was impressed at how easily she established some form of a connection and mutual understanding with the droids.

  
“Here it is,” Gwyn said as she inputted strings of commands into the console. Loukas peered over her shoulder. “Our bounty hunter.” She changed few things and on the screen in front of them appeared an image of a Duros male of middle height that was dressed in a long coat, had cybernetic breathing pipes leading to his mouth and a wide hat that covered most of his face from the camera.

  
“Looks charming,” Loukas commented and then smiled. “He matches what I remember from my vision.”

  
Smiling Gwyn kissed him on the cheek and moved over to a second console. “We have our friend, now I think your Master would appreciate something more than a picture.”

  
“A name would be ideal.”

  
“I thought so,” Gwyn murmured as she looked up at the screen. “We don’t have access to the database that has all of the bounty hunters of the galaxy, even if we wanted one, nut we have something that might be equally useful.”

  
“What is that?”

  
“A database of all known criminals of the Republic. Most bounty hunters are there, some with heaps of credits in bounties placed on their heads by ones that were robbed by them or by their competition.”

  
o-0-o

  
“The Force, clouded it is,” Yoda stated enigmatically and Windu only nodded in agreement. That match he knew already. “The Dark Side is on the rise, the Sith killed on Naboo nine years ago was not the Master. He was the Apprentice.”

  
Windu canted his head to the side. “As I feared,” he said after a second. “He was too unskilled in the Force. He was an assassin, not a true Sith Lord.”

  
“Yes, the Master is somewhere, hiding and biding his time. Find him we must.”

  
Reaching for his cup of tea Windu slowly sipped the hot beverage and contemplated what Yoda said. The Order became complacent and it lost its edge over the centuries since the time of the Ruusan Reformation, the greatest triumph of the Republic and the Order, but perhaps also its greatest failure. Instead of destroying the Sith Order they merely forced it into hiding and now they weren’t prepared for fighting its new members. New Knights were primarily schooled in the arts of negotiations, diplomacy and fighting against the opponents armed with blasters, not ones armed with lightsabers. A thing that made sense when they thought, when they assumed that the Sith were dead, if they weren't it was a risk, a mistake. One that would need to be corrected.

  
“We still have the time,” Yoda said, pulling Windu out of his musings. “Not much, but still there is time we can use. My former padawan is a key.”

  
“Dooku,” Windu said quietly. “Do you think it is him who is behind the attempt to steal the holocrons?”

  
“Unlikely, not in his style such a burglary is. He is haughty and noble, not rash and willing to break the law.”

  
“He also leads the Council of the Independent Systems,” Windu pointed out. “An open rebellion against the Republic. That speaks something about his approach to the law of the Republic.”

  
“To the law yes, but is law the morality and what guides our actions, hrm?”

  
Biting down on his lower lip Windu nodded in agreement, the frown on his face deepening as he noticed a shatterpoint appear in front of him and then rapidly disappear. “You’re right, it probably isn’t him. He left the Order, but I don’t think he betrayed our philosophy. Not yet, at least.”

  
“Indeed. He is a danger to the Republic, not to the Order,” Yoda said and paused for a second. “Your padawan the bounty hunter he saw.”

  
“And the bounty hunter, if we can catch him, might lead us to the one that paid him. Assuming that he didn’t use a proxy or two to avoid such an accident.”

  
“The future will tell you that. Now go and speak with him.”

  
Windu nodded and after finishing the cup of tea he carefully nursed in his hand he slipped out of the room. The talk with the Grandmaster of the Order was less than enlightening for him. He didn’t expect that he would learn something surprising or something that would let him know much more, but the fact that it wasn’t Dooku made it even more troubling.

  
The Senate and the Chancellor would need to learn about the incident, sooner rather than later and he didn’t already like it. A shatterpoint appeared suddenly in his vision and his eyes widened as he suddenly realized that talking about the incident with the people outside of the Order could cause a problem. A problem that could threaten the whole Order and perhaps even the Republic. He couldn’t quite understand why it was connected to this heist, but he knew that it was this heist that could threaten the Order if information about it got into the hands of the outsiders.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be romance and smut with Loukas and Gwyn, but it will take time for the story to get there. They're padawans and need to watch what they do or someone might catch them and land them all in quite a lot of troubles.


End file.
